6 Most Important Things in Business Today

A huge tax bill is in danger in the Senate due to concerns about the financial state of the U.S. government in future years. According to Reuters:

The U.S. Senate on Thursday delayed voting on a Republican tax overhaul as the bill was tripped up by problems with an amendment sought by fiscal hawks to address a large expansion of the federal budget deficit projected to result from the measure.

CVS is moving closer to a $66 billion-plus agreement to buy Aetna, with a possible deal announcement by Monday.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) will have a self-driving taxi in just over a year. According to The Wall Street Journal:

General Motors said the robotaxi service it is developing could potentially eclipse the profits it earns in the core automotive business within a decade.

OPEC and Russia will hold the line on oil production next year. According to The Wall Street Journal:

OPEC and a Russia-led group of big-oil producers agreed to keep limiting their output through the end of 2018, as they seek to provide assurance for an oil industry still working through a fragile recovery.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) closed a large number of branches. According to Bloomberg:

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc will close 259 more branches across Britain in its latest round of cuts as customers shift to online banking.

Outlets under both the NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland brands will close in the middle of next year, resulting in about 680 job cuts, the company said Friday. RBS said it will use the savings to invest in its smartphone offering, which has seen mobile transactions rise more than 70 percent since 2014.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) may buy one or more drug companies. According to CNBC:

Amazon has held preliminary talks with makers of generic drugs about its potential entry into the pharmacy space, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The conversations, including with generics giants Mylan and Sandoz, a unit of Novartis, have been high-level, and the nature of Amazon’s plans isn’t yet clear, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions aren’t public.